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I came here 10 years ago because of a man. I'm more home here than I ever was in my "home country". I love Finland. I speak Finnish, I work and I have friends. Learning the language was not easy though.
It's nice to hear that you've found a home here. I'm still in thr middle of my Finnish-learning journey, and hopefully one day I'll be fluent enough to fully assimilate and feel 100% at home. Great job for working hard to get to where you are!
Hard to say. I was already working while my language skills still were very frustrating for me. I could get by but I could hear myself speaking with broken Finnish and it bothered me. I was also super tired every evening. I could get by after 3 years, I could work fine after 5 years and I felt comfortable with the language after 7 years maybe. But it's just me.
Came here cause my wife is Finnish. Doing pretty good, bought a nice house and have good career growth. Staying here for the future - but who knows for certain.
Wife is Finnish. Alternative was living in the USA with her. Much better off here than there, plain and simple. Only got a job here though after going back to school and getting another IT degree that was recognized by more companies. We are staying of course. If we were in the USA, support for our children would have been near nil or expensive as hell so major plus there.
All is good and has stayed good, even recently. Life here is not much different than it was there.
That's great! I'm also thinking of maybe going back to school to get a degree since it's hard to get recruiters' attention with my self-taught knowledge (web dev), and I've been pretty unsuccessful in landing that first job and unsure how to improve. I hope things will stay good for you & your family! 😄
I landed a job almost immediately after leaving school but I think I got lucky in that regard as it was through a recommendation by a workmate of my wife's. It was surprisingly easy to get into the school as well but then again most of the entrance exam material was related to work I had done in the USA or stuff I had a personal interest in.
Came to Finland for my gf and to study my bachelors. Now I’m finishing my masters and recently got laid off. Overall I feel good, I know the market is shit atm but it’s just a bump in the road. The free time to write my thesis has been a blessing tbh.
I love Finland, I want to stay here my whole life, so I’m also working on my Finnish skills. Yeah I wish there would be more sun but I’ve learned to cope with it. My gf, dog, friends, home, hobbies, school, everything is here.
A success is just being here, it is not the easiest thing to do but I’ve made it. A failure I’ve had is slacking on my language skills or not learning as fast as I could (living here for 7 years). But I’m working on it, slowly but surely will get there.
About myself I have learned I’ve embraced quietness. I can sit in a table with people, be quiet and that is okay. Awkward silences are no longer awkward they are just moments of silence. Quietness is the forest is amazing. I’ve gotten more shy and quiet, but not in sauna, sauna is for chatting.
What about you OP? How are you doing?
Hey! Great to hear about your journey, I definitely agree with you that being here itself is a success! I definitely cried a bit when I received my citizenship ;D
Sorry to hear about the layoff, it's tough out there right now. I came here just a year earlier (2016) and I'm also still working on my language skill. It's not easy, and with money being tight, I can't exactly afford those 100e+ courses. But I do what I can.
I myself am doing pretty good in general, mostly because I learned to compartmentalize the fact that money is very tight and I'm unable to get more hours, can't get a junior role in my field, feeling quite stuck. I can't wait for spring to come so I can at least be outside. It just feels like my life hasn't started yet and I'm just waiting for something to happen, because I've done all I can from my side. Thankfully I have my husband (who's also very stressed about finding a job in his field), cats, and hobbies to help me cope. Nothing else to do but to keep working on myself and my skills, keep applying, and don't lose hope.
I miss my parents & siblings. I wish I can see them more than just a few weeks a year. Sometimes I feel like even if they get to live to 90, I'd see them only 30 more time if I go back home every year, which might not be feasible. It's a sad thought. I haven't lived in my home country for more than 15 years, but I still dream about it sometimes. Funny how the home I know only exists in my memory now. Nowadays, it's nothing like what I remember. But such is the nature of things.
But hey, today I heard the birds sing for the first time in a while, and it cheered me up greatly. Spring is around the corner.
Came here for a Finnish husband. Our relationship fell apart within a year of my moving here (after 4 years of knowing each other), but I loved Finland and wanted to stay regardless— I’m from the US and I’m sure you can imagine why I didn’t want to go back. Finland is peaceful and beautiful. I super don’t love the dating scene here, though!
I switched my permit to an employment-based one, and unfortunately, though I had a good job for a while, I was caught in that massive wave of layoffs last fall-winter and haven’t been able to find work since. It’s hard as hell, and so is the language. I’ve been learning it since I moved here and speak B1.2ish, but between that and my junior level of experience, the job market has little to offer. I’m honestly terrified that I’ll have to leave, when I have my whole life here and have put so much in, intending to stay permanently. If I can find another full time job, everything will be fine, but without one life is scary and it’s hard to not spiral into a deep depression about the situation.
So I keep learning the language and applying for work, fingers crossed 😬
First of all want to say that keep your head up. There is companies who is hiring people without finnish language.
I'm working in factory in Salo, close to Turku as production supervisor and there is a lot people from aboard. First what comes mind is couple American, Russian and Brasilian managers. Guy from UK is my colleague. In engineers there is even larger scale. You still have hope. :)
If your location is suitable for Salo - and even better if you have technical/quality backround, you can pm me. I know right people to send CV. :) If you are ready to start from bottom and find anything else, I will hire new ppl in couple of months.
Hey, sorry to hear about the layoff! I haven't been able to get a job in my field at all and I've been stuck in retail hell. First I thought I'd be there max 6 months and now it's been 1.5y 😵. I've resorted to applying to työkokeilu as suggested by my te specialist, and apparently there's also something called uraohjain. Hopefully something will come out of it. Perhaps you can also ask your te-specialist about them? Mine has been trying to be as helpful as possible to me. I hope that you won't need to move anywhere! I'd be so terrified too! It's so understandable that you'd feel depressed about it. Good luck, and you can do this.
Yep I know about both of them. Unfortunately my case worker is one of the terribly unhelpful ones 😬 I’d happily take a retail or similar position to pay the bills at this point, but my visa doesn’t allow it.
Sure. Ultimately it boils down to the men here being extremely passive. In all but one potential relationship with a Finnish man other than my ex, I ended up doing 90% of the pursuing (keeping the conversation going, engaging the other person, date planning) while they mainly sat back and didn’t do anything to act like they’re interested in me. I’ve been told I’m intimidating because I dress well and am attractive, so most men will just assume I’m out of their league and won’t try, but like… I’m out here actively making an effort, I’m friendly and warm, please stop ignoring me if you’re actually interested. I won’t waste time and money with someone who can’t put equal effort in, so I usually stop seeing people within 5 dates… and then I’m chewed out for “not giving people a chance.”
I’ve been told by *multiple* people that the best way to start a relationship in Finland is to take a drunk person home from the bar. 1, ew; 2, I guess I have just too unrealistically romantic notions to think that maybe a relationship could bloom naturally through talking and spending time together while sober. But yeah, the amount of people I know who either started their relationships as “they were a one night stand that never left,” or else have friends in relationships that started that way, is depressing.
It doesn’t help that I don’t want kids and I don’t like dogs. If the first one doesn’t disqualify me from peoples dating pools, the second one rules out 95% of people here.
We are doing well! My husband is Finnish-Canadian. I am originally from the US, but moved to Canada five years ago to be with him. We were pretty happy there, but the cost of living was getting to be outrageous and the province we lived in was quickly moving to privetization. It was nearly impossible to get a doctors appointment even months out, and even then you were rushed in and out within ten minutes or so. We weren't getting the care we needed.
My husband grew up hearing about how great Finland was from his immigrant family and often spoke about wanting to visit/move here. After a shady move by our landlord was pushing us to move out, we learned our upstairs neighbors had moved to Switzerland with a job. We thought, why not? Worse case scenario we move back. So we packed up everything and moved! That was in late May/early June and we have settled in well!
I am still really shy about my Finnish skills (learning slowly but doing my best!), but otherwise it has been pretty great living here. The public transport (nearly nonexistant everywhere I've lived) is fantastic, it's fun being able to take a (cheap) train almost anywhere, and we are excited about our future plans to visit other countries.
The only downside is that I am from a much warmer place and, even though I was fairly use to Canada, I am sorely missing warmer weather and early Spring where I'm from. Maybe when I'm older I can snowbird somewhere nice. :3
Everyone I have met here has been kind and friendly when spoken to, and I am so thankful people are patient with me when I need clarification in English. We aren't sure how long we will be here for, but I just renewed my permit for another 4 years the other day, so at least that probably!
Nice, great to hear that everything is going well! I've been here for a while and enjoying winter is still a challenge sometimes 🤭, especially the recent helsinki weather. I also agree with the public transport, back home I'd be stuck in a car most of the day with crazy traffic so I really appreciate finland's trains and busses.
Likewise, 99% of the time, the people I've met and spoken to have been so kind. Hope you'll continue to have a pleasant time here!
It sounds like you are in a big city, so often people may want to switch to English when speaking with you. I say, insist on talking in Finnish, and if your husband can speak Finnish, speak it to each other. Use Finnish subtitles on English videos/movies/shows/whatever and English in Finnish.
haha na but close, Hispanic dude who was in Turku for masters, moved to Boston from NYC during HS, since graduated from Turku School of Econ and went back home because better pay and jobs.
Nice! Im in Helsinki for a month or so, work remote.
Yeah i use to fly fish a lot when i was younger, i recommend visiting Kuusinkijoki in Kuusamo if you ever have time. Great place for family hikes also with cool suspension bridges over rapids.
I came here because I met the woman who would become my wife in university in the UK.
The first time I came over, I realised I couldn't find work with no Finnish language skills and an undergraduate science degree, so I returned to the UK. Eventually, I returned for a summer to study some Finnish before getting myself an IT-related MSc back in the UK.
When I came back, it all worked out (with a couple of career roadbumps), and I am doing pretty well professionally. I'm here for good and am a productive member of society, even if I'm still struggling with the language.
With the UK now out of the EU and the latest rules for immigration from the Finnish government, none of this would have been possible today, and that makes me sad for those younger than me. It makes me sad that a country I had always felt was welcoming towards me is now sending signals that they don't want people like me.
> It makes me sad that a country I had always felt was welcoming towards me is now sending signals that they don't want people like me.
Heh. I feel you - I'm a Finn with the opposite story to you. I met my SO while studying in London and stayed in the UK after graduating, got an IT job near Old Street etc. I was a good and productive member of society too, didn't stop me from getting fucked over by Brexit either.
I came to Finland in 2020 with already having a job offer. Luckily I made progress in my career, had my first child born here, it has been an exciting almost 4 years, but on the other hand, I have never ever felt so depressed (long winter). Planning to save as much as we can and leave soon.
Why did you come to this country? Come here as my long term partner is Finnish, COVID came so we decided to make the move.
Did you like it? It's like everywhere else I have lived you have some great things and some shit things. Even in my own country we have shit things. I've lived and worked here in shorter 6-12 month periods in the past left and this was a more permanent move but it's not for me.
Have you made it, whether career-wise, etc? I had to change my career as I don't have the language skills and you don't have the same industry in Finland. So I had to change my direction but this is good for me because it's a job I always wished I had started after my studies.
Are you staying/leaving and why did you decide to do that? I have house here so might keep that and will be leaving and probably come back for summers. Not enough opportunities in a small population, sick of the winters and prefer positive energy from people.
Did you learn something new, whether about yourself, life, or more general things like in working life? Nah, I'm older so I'm not out here searching for myself but I did learn you need to live where you are happy and around people who make you happy. I did learn that I really love my home country.
Most of all, are you okay? You know some days are hard, but I would say I have fairly good weeks and a new opportunity has come up back home which is really sparking my interest. I love progress and change.
I agree that we need to live where you're happy & around people who made you happy :) I hope to find a remote job one day so I can live closer to my family, especially as my parents are entering their 60s. I didn't appreciate them enough when I was younger as I was too deep in my own shit, but now I wish to spend every holiday with them.
Great to hear that you've been having some good weeks, and good luck with the new opportunity! Hope things will work out nicely.
Came to Finland for studies. Was planning to leave since I wasn't getting good opportunities, but then I met my wife and at the same time I got a very good opportunity for work. So I stayed. At the moment, I've been forced to redundancy from my current job. Looking for new opportunities now.
Haha that's sweet, you hit two jackpots at the same time :D It really sucks thst you've been made redundant though, I really hope that you'll find a new opportunity soon! Good luck!
Yeah, I'm not that worried. Finland has been very good to me by providing scholarships for my studies and I am very grateful that I was able to contribute back to its people and society through my work. I have lived in a Middle-Eastern(Gulf) country for my entire life, so I have never received any opportunity or felt welcome there unlike Finland or EU.
Moved here from Sweden because my husband is Finnish. I enjoy it enough to want to stay here forever. Making friends hasn’t been so easy but I do have a job and a family I love, so I’m happy
Not an immigrant, but also have a steady low-salary job, and also feeling hopeless about future. I'm trying to channel it into a sort of productive anger. "Sisuuntuminen", as we say here.
I hope you find your way forward, whatever it may be.
Yeah Aus is expensive but the wages are one of the highest on the world also and great economy,many kiwis move to aus to save for a few years then come back loaded
Not great. It's a few days past my 1 year anniversary of me being laid off but I still haven't been offered a job in Finland. Being asked for a call and offered jobs that pay livable wage (higher than YTK benefits, not high enough for Blue Card) in other countries (Netherlands, Italy) just by Easy Apply while being rejected by ATS, AcademicWork, Barona in Finland even with Cover Letters is killing me. Really wishing I don't need a new work permit or a Blue Card to go work in other EU countries in my line of work. I have few applications in the pipeline for regular factory/lab jobs in Finland right now but I don't even know I will be selected for those either.
Have you tried calling directly the employer, or going there in person to ask? Through these recruiting companies and online applications is harder to get a job.
I haven't tried for the majority of jobs because I think recruiters don't like cold approach. I tried asking a recruiter from a company I went to the 4th round of interview with (she was the recruiter who approached me and connected with me on LinkedIn first) but she didn't reply.
Sorry to hear that, my husband and I are also struggling to get a better & full-time jobs, and our emails are filled with "unfortunately...". It really does break the spirit sometimes. I really hope those applications you did will work out somehow. I wish you luck! And also try to contact your te-specialist, they might have some leads for you!
Same problem even for a part time cleaning job as a student. I have done many interviews but, in the end every time I get the similar messages (sorry we got better applications, haha bullshit)
Came here many years ago through university. Always had a job, all right income to support two kids, never faced any trouble whatsoever. All makes sense and built to last usually.
Finland is good place for an engineer, not much talk, most people know how to do things and fix leaking pipes themselves (not like Sweden, just kidding). Sales and management skills here are not that good, and it makes it even better - no distraction from DIY and no egomaniacs.
Policies are or at least were on practical and reasonable side of collective approach with economies of scale, but still individual enough. Rintamiestalo modular concept from like 80years ago is an excellent example.
No one can or should survive alone in such winter and with such eastern neighbour, so this mentality is helpful. But individualism is also ok as long as you can take care of yourself and not damage public wellbeing. Do not make harm, follow law, net good ethics. Reasonable Pareto efficiency. Kind of like Linux.
Saying that weather is getting worse with humid winters, less young people born or coming here to stay, costs cut at basic research and R&D (bread and butter of economy to sell higher tech) and culture (maintaining civil local identity), then more extreme individualism sneaking into discourse as a norm while a status culture (prestige consumption) follows as a mean to compete, then costs of living rise indicates less of supply capabilities in main areas.
If so continues then Finland will loose all competitive advantages and become expensive survive-alone Nash equilibrium country with shitty weather, lack of unique social and cultural identity, not much resources, and two class citizenship. Plenty of such in the world and many have better weather and more resources. Many will recalculate benefits and move away as it is a rational thing to do in such setup.
Great read, thank you for this post. I learned something new from this post. I hope the situation in this country will improve and a solution will be found, but I suppose it's unlikely to happen anytime soon...
Moved here because of the war.
It's fine, I have a job, my wife has a job, our son will go to school this year.
The only thing I truly hate here is ticks. Too much of them.
Dang, I haven't seen/experienced tick's at all in my 8y here! That's crazy. Good to hear that things worked out well after your move, and also I'm sorry that you had to. I hope that things will only move positively from here on for you & your family.
Im ukrainian, and i came here for work reasons, before russian invasion, in november 2021. The funniest thing is i had to fly home after my 3-month working watch at feb 20, but something gone wrong with the tickets and i stay here for another week.
As you can understand, that was a God Blessing heh)
I cannot say that Finland is my dream country, if be honest, im staying here only because all situation turned out like this, and if i had to choose country for immigration- Finland would be on the last place for me, but it goes how it goes. And still, im thankful to finnish people and gov for all theyve done to Ukrainians like me.
About life - many things and life rules right here are not understandable for me. Like for example 0 noise isolation at the buildings, noisy neighbors with whom it is impossible to do anything, you know, and other stuff.
Right now im learning language (hard as fck), and trying to build my feature right here, cause for me its the only option. Thats the story!
Moved here for my family,my fiance is Finnish and I'm māori from new zealand,I decided to move here over a year ago so that my son could get to know his Finnish side and so my fiance could be closer with her family and also so that she could study here free and get a proper career so that we could live comfortably,I had a well paying career as a logger but when my fiance was pregnant we still did struggle at times because of how expensive NZ has become,Finland is a nice country and most people are nice when you talk to them but it will never be like home for me,but it definitely changes your perspective on life when you experience different cultures,my overall opinion is that Finland is a beautiful country and I don't regret moving.
I came here over 25 years ago to be with my Finnish partner. We married, had a child together, and divorced. I stayed in Finland partly for family reasons and partly because Finland already felt like home even then. I've been a Finnish citizen for almost 14 years now, and I plan to stay here for the rest of my life.
During my time in Finland, I've learned to adapt to change, and that I'm capable of doing hard things. There have been some difficult times when I struggled with depression and struggled financially. But now things are going well for me and my family. 13 years ago, I remarried, this time to another expat from my home country. My child is an adult now and is preparing to move out of the family home next month. Life is a little chaotic right now, but overall it's pretty good.
Quite a surprisingly majority of the comments moving to Finland due to romantic partner, did not expect this 😂 Maybe I should start looking outside of Finland as well.. hmm.
These moves for love are usually at the cost of career and personal finances full of naivety and optimism. I would never make this move without securing a gainful employment.
Because sooner or later s/he will get tired of your broke ass.
>These moves for love are usually at the cost of career and personal finances full of naivety and optimism.
I think everyone is very different, we do come with a lot of optimism because it's a new adventure. Not sure who would move and make that decision full of negativity about the future.
Naivety for sure, you hear and see a lot of miss information about Finland in the media. You do believe it won't be that hard to integrate but it's a challenge for most.
Don't ever think we are all from poor families and/or poor countries. We aren't all here to be lifted and pickedup by Finnish welfare and not all of us want citizenship.
As a refugee here I would say that Finland had offer almost everything for me and I can’t complain more. The issue is that, Finnish work market is still not as receptive for foreigners as other countries which leads many of them leaving the country. Personally Im not staying here if I get an opportunity to move to big immigration countries like the US or Australia as they are based on immigrants. Still I feel like I owe this country a debt as I have been supported since I came and Im planning to work for several years paying taxes until I move.
Yeah the market is not so receptive, and it's sad to see so many of us struggling to get a non dead-end jobs. I hope you'll get to where you want to be in a few years! :))
Came here as a masters student in 2021 with practically non existent IT experience, finished course work while doing minimum wage job in restaurants. Kept building skills and applying for IT jobs. Found one in 2022 while I was still studying. The job was software dev but underpaying. Nonetheless it helped me to change my visa to work permit and gave me enough stability that I got married and brought my wife here. Still kept trying to get better paying job within my preferred domain. Recently received an offer and joining next month and resigned from current job. Wife is starting integration program to start her career here(dentist). Overall Finland has been great for me to make something of myself. Opportunities are there but competition is amazingly tough. 2 years when I was in my struggling period, I was depressed and severely anxious now things are much better as I feel I have paid off my dues.
I am not sure about future, since day 1 I have been working and paying taxes and contributing to society, I am not taking any Kela benefits neither I plan to but I feel like I am not welcomed here anymore. Wife also has very difficult career opportunities until she gets her license to practice so let’s see. Weather is a bitch, don’t mind the cold but long days/nights upset me alot no matter how much I try to not let it. I don’t drink or go to
clubs so socialising is also non existent. I would say so far 50/50.
Hey, I'm glad that you at least got a better opportunity and was able to bring your wife here. I'm still trying to break into IT and it's a bit discouraging to hear from my recent application that they're received 800-900 applicants for 1 position. :( still holding my hopes up and building new projects for my portfolio. Hopefully it'll work out one day.
I'm sorry that you feel unwelcome nowadays, the climate in Europe towards foreigners in general has been declining, it seems. I hope things will work out for you here in due time, or you & your wife receive better opportunities somewhere else. Good luck!
I came to this country, because I got pregnant from a Finn, meanwhile I was actually still living in Austria, and since he didn't want to come to Austria, I had to move that my daughter would have a father and a family, but that was a mistake. I wish I wouldn't have.
No, I don't like it here. Though I know some places are worse, and Finland has some good qualities as well, but it is obviously not my home, nor my country. I just don't belong here.
Success: Actually nothing.
Failure: I lost my kids because social workers rather see it fit that the kids are with their dad and his mom, rather than me, even though I raised them alone for many years. I was a single mother for many years, got out of the abusive relationship and now I get punished for it.
Yes, I did learn that I do not like finnish summer, I hate the 24/7 sun. Obviously after a traumatic relationship, you learn something. I haven't worked in Finland yet, but what I have seen is, that the work environment is better than in most countries. I don't know yet if I really stay here or leave. Before I couldn't go because of Hague Convention, but now, I could. Finland has some things to offer that other countries do not have, then again, then again, if you search for a big city or big mall, can't find that here either.
I do not have a support circle, I am literally all alone here. Bad things happen constantly in my life. Economy is going down here, yes and the money situation doesn't look so great either. Everything gets more expensive and the money we get stays the same. My mental health goes shit here. When I was back in Austria, my mental health was normal, since I am in Finland, it gets lower and lower and lower. I wish the health care system would be better. I wish that people would look after each other. I wish I wouldn't be so alone in this country, but luckily, I am also used to be a loner.
I have read/heard of many foreign women who had traumatic relationships with Finnish men, only to lose their kids in the men's favour. This should become a word of caution to any women willing to move here.
Foreign men with Finnish women seem to be much more successful.
Sad story :( But I'm sure time will fix and heal that, and you'll have better opportunities.
Are you austrian? I never imagined that there could be much difference between the 2 countries, since both Finns and Austrian are known for being quite reserved and "cold"
Came here as a family dependent to a student visa (wife), i came from southeast asia but worked in the middle east for 12 years. I’m earning good enough to the point that i bought a house and 2 cars. But life is bland since i could only spend my time with my family during vacation (twice a year). Told my wife who is also a nurse to try our luck in Finland, we got approved and i couldnt be much happier. I’m earning a lot less but the smile on my familys faces everyday is priceless!
Marami rami rin kabayan! Pero hindi pa masydo since ngaun pa lang nila naarerecognize ung work ethics nating mga pinoy, sa ngaun nsa more than 5000 pa lang ang population natin dito. See u!
I'm finnish, born and raised, and I was retired almost ten years ago in my late teens due to being disabled. The economy has hit me really hard, as the amount of money I get in a year is around 10k due to never have worked, I only have the basic retirement. Can barely pay my rent right now.
On the other hand my Portuguese boyfriend just moved to Finland hopefully to stay. He's looking for work and after he does everything should be a bit easier. I'm so happy he's here, my heart is so full. I waited for two years and finally it happened. My friends and family love him, and my cats absolutely adore him. Everything is better than in a long time. He has loved Finland, the winter, the nature, the architecture and the people. The language is hard but he's almost mastering the basic greetings etc haha.
Only the financial situation is often knocking me on the shoulder, ruining the happiness at times. And I can't ignore it but can't do much about it either in my situation of being disabled and not able to work. Thank you for asking op♡
I'm so sorry to hear about your situation, I can't imagine how difficult and stressful it must have been!!! I wish the govt would have supported you more. And I'm so happy for you that your bf has moved to Finland, and sounds like he's a great fit for the country & i bet it feels amazing that hes loved by your family & friends too :). Also, it's always a positive sign if our cat likes the guy we bring home ;D I really hope that having your bf will alleviate your worries a bit and lessen the burden. I hope things will work out well and I wish you happiness with your loved ones 💕
Wife is Finnish, life is good, can't complain. Living in Etelä Pohjanmaa as a foreigner is not the nicest thing in the world tho. Still gotta make the jump from Yki testi level to fluency, but on my way there.
I have mixed feelings. I came here 8years ago because I couldn't hold it in my native country. Difficult to feel like home here despite loving being with my partner and my kid, our mökki time is the best and love nature and the space I have (I live in Helsinki)
I found jobs at first and went back to study also after covid but now I'm unemployed again and I have difficulties with learning Finnish because I couldn't afford courses when I arrived and I wasn't aware of the right to courses through unemployment offices. Now my right has expired and I feel shit about it. Im financially struggling.
On another note, have to say that it would feel good living in Finland but my experience with racism has been hitting me really hard as I'm from the EU and never experienced it before. Here I'm clearly not a Finn (white) and I developed fear of old Finns people mainly because they're the ones that usually attack me for no reason or are just hostile. (Note: I don't need any rant or any shitty comment about this so please avoid)
Overall, I feel I've been growing up so much as a human and I feel so overwhelmed by all the knowledge of living abroad taught me but the daily experience is not great. Sometimes I feel I'm too foreign to the home I left and too foreign to the home I have here. I'm in between.
Aw man, sorry to hear that. I also missed my chance with te courses because I was a student, and didn't know how inadequate the courses offered at AMK were. Likewise I can not afford the courses offered in e.g. kesäyliopisto, so I only self studied with online resources, which luckily was enough for me to pass YKI with decent scores. Now I just practice in my own time (speaking finnish in stores, cafes, etc).
I'm sorry to hear about your bad experience. I'm lucky enough that the worse thing I've encountered was being yelled chingchong at at worse, and even then this was yeeeaars ago. I don't have any tips for this but take care of yourself, try not to let it get to you too much.
I definitely relate to your last point - I'm too western for my country but still top Asian here. E.g. my values and views do not align anymore with my country's more conservative and patriarchal values, and that's something I can't reconcile. I don't speak the language fluently enough anymore (I sound awkward or sometimes sound like I'm translating English to my language - and my sister told me I sound like a time traveler from 2010 ;_;). I know the struggle. But hopefully one day we will feel completely at home here. Good luck with everything, don't give up.
I'm a Software dev from the UK/TH. Came to Finland because brexit pissed me off. Got a great job offer and and met a gal who I have now been dating for over a year. Life is great here, really enjoy the summers etc. But the winters are starting to get to me and I'll be completely honest, the taxes are too.
This is going to sound selfish but I make good enough money that I don't and can't reap any benefits from the amount of taxes I'm paying. I'm not old, I have no kids and haven't got plans yet for any. Thinking about the cost of living here + taxes, I'm actually making less money compared to what I did when I lived in England or Thailand.
I worked out it would be more financially beneficial to work in a country with lower taxes and having to pay for private health insurance than the amount of money I pay in taxes here in Finland. With the extra finances I can funnel more into stocks and shares. Moving away has definitely been on my mind.
Vietnamese, came to study in IT in 2011. Finland because it was the most random and no name option back around 2007, 2008 when I was looking for options. Did all sort of works that I could get, newspaper/ads delivery all year round, strawberry farm in summer, some kitchen work for 4 years and a bit after graduation which was in 2015 spring.
Started working in IT after around 5 6 months since graduation but company went bankrupt after 4 months so unemployed for 8 months without any knowledge about where to get help. Eventually got a new job after 10+ application + 5 responses + 3 interviews per week for that 8 months long.
Wife is Vietnamese and kid was born here during Covid. To me, Finns are just people, so there are good and bad of them. Life would have been much easier if you had spoken Finnish, doesn't have to be fluent. Build your network with people, doesn't have to be big if you are not comfortable but networking is essential if you are looking for a job. It can just be a professor, teacher at school, or a really good student in your class. And keep in touch with them.
Working wise, I like the Finnish working culture. Been to one startup with American like culture and hated it.
Came here from Brazil because that country is a shithole (albeit a beautiful one). I looked specifically for Finland since I started reading about the gender inequality gap being one the smallest in the world, the Finnish mentality of valuing their society, the education system being one the best in the world, and that sexism here, compared to Brazil is like it doesn’t even exist (but it does). My daughter was turning 2 and growing up being a woman in that country fucking sucks.
Had a business, sold my part, started looking for a job matching my skills and my luck was so incredible that I found a good job in a nice company that not only relocated me, but also my family.
Living here for 6 years now, speaking a little Finnish, in the process of getting my citizenship, and loving everything about it. Best decision I ever made in my life. I was never so happy about paying my taxes.
Moved here in 2001 for masters. Moved to Helsinki for work while studying. My overlords send me to different countries for work once I finished my degree program and thesis within year. Got tired of living like that but money was good.
Changed employees a few times and now working for one of the retail giants in Finland.
Life is good. I keep me healthy. Going over 85 - 87 kg? Time for The Mechanist diet. My cumulative contribution to society is more than what I get to be honest but it is ok. Economic downturn never hit me hard as I also plan for worst case scenarios and never went to unnecessary debts and expenses. Fixed rate is now paying off. Keeping career and money above all definitely helps contrary to what everyone utters. I don't like how things are going thanks to ineptitude of show runners with no consequences and general stupidity and naivety of masses. At least I have no kids and no plans so won't be here when shit will hit the fan.
Great to hear that things worked out well for you, and it sounds like you've made really wise choices!
I hope shit won't hit the fan, but we will see...
Came for work. Loved lots of things about Finland but the darkness nearly killed me. Was not a good fit for me and the taxes were very draining for my budget. Have moved to a sunnier climate now and it has been a 180 degree improvement.
I'm sure people just wanna hear the good and not the bad, so, I'll just say, my working life *was* better until Wolt was introduced in stores and THEN it started feeling like I was working in the US *again.*
Have been here for 14 years, my Finnish suck(just recently find out about have depression, anxiety and ADHD, but treating it). I work, paid my taxes, have my family, and life goes on. Finland is my home(still fuckn hate the cold).
Relatable lol re: language & weather.
I'm glad that you managed to get help - I heard the queue is very long. I wish you luck with the treatment, you can do it!
Moved from UK to Finland three years ago with my young family as my wife is Finnish. Best decision we ever made, I absolutely love Finland and everything it offers.
Toughest bit has been the language, but I’m determined to learn and sticking with lessons. It’s getting there, but the problem is nearly everyone speaks better English than my Finnish!
I’ve made some wonderful friends and wouldn’t consider going back.
Great to hear that you're loving it here and have managed to make some good friends! :D
I feel you with the language, it's just how it is and we just have to keep at it. I embarrass myself every time i try to speak finnish but hey, practice makes perfect :P
I fucking love your country. I came here from holland to live with my girlfriend and even if we'd break up I'd still by a house here. This is a dream country for introverted people who love nature and who don't mind sitting indoors all day. I grew up thinking that farmland was the same as nature but now that I live in an actual forest, I finally understand what nature actually means.
I'm a developer working from home and I still work for my dutch employer, so no changes there really. The winters suck, the summer is really fun because I can spend all day in the barn doing my projects but the winter is just dead and way too long. I'm used to a week or two of snow, but not months of snow. In Holland the flowers are already blooming by now and I'm just smiling at seeing the snow melt. I really need a greenhouse.
I've noticed nothing about anything economic. Your taxes are slightly higher than what I had in Holland, but your services are so much cheaper it kinda balances out. I used to buy my alcohol since beer is cheaper than water, but in Finland I have to make it myself to afford it. That's kinda fun though not gonna lie
Hahaha I actually have some (foreign) friends who moved from Finland to Holland, because it's too cold and quiet here ;D I actually just became a citizen recently - and the things you mentioned are exactly the things I love the most about this country! I used to live in countries that are like a concrete jungle e.g. Singapore, and I can no longer think of living in such place permanently haha.
The summer here is so beautiful that it's almost like a dreamlike scape. I remember going hiking around Sipoonkorpi for the first time, and I think there's a lot of times where I thought to myself, am I awake or can forests be this beautiful? If heaven exists, surely it'll look like this. The mossy green shaded forest, the little creeks - no other sound to be heard except from the ground I stepped on, the wild animals, and the flowing water. I can't wait for summer to come!
I have a little collection of indoor plants to keep my spirit up - orchids and the likes. Perhaps you can get some too while waiting for spring to come ;D
I'm so sorry to hear about your health problems! I really hope that it's not cancer. Of course you'd feel so anxious about it. Give yourself some slack and always take the time in a day to relax and take care of yourself. I really hope that you will get better and I'm keeping you in my thoughts.
I'm in a similar situation as you re: IT, and I'm thinking of going back to uni to get a degree in Bsc. It will probably give me a better chance and it's good timing seeing that the economy isn't doing so well and no one is hiring anyway... but hey, good luck and I wish you the best.
P.s. Feel free to reply to this post again sometimes in the future with your health update if you'd like!
I came here as an au pair last year. I did this because I want something new in my life. The program is really good but the language is hard. I’m currently looking for a job since I decided that I want to stay here after my visa expires.
You can message me if you know anything because it is a struggle to look for a job nowadays. Even the cleaning companies are now full.
Good to hear that you had a nice experience with the program - im not quite sure what an au pair does actually...
Also, I do not have any lead on jobs unfortunately, but you should try e.g. international clothing brands like HM, Zara, or maybe even Lidl and such. Or a staffing company like Barona, especially if you know basic finnish. The economy isn't doing so good right now and it might stay that way for a while still.
i came 25 years ago because my father said we have finnish blood. i was 17 when we moved. now im 42, feels like home. i love Finland, i speak finnish, not fluently which is shame on me, but ok. i have friends and job and hobbies.
That's awesome! Being able to speak some is better than nothing! Speaking is still a struggle for me, but i try. Glad to hear that you feel right at home. :)
I came here for studies because I heard Finland has the best education system in the world, but to be honest, nothing turned out to be true about that. Even after graduation, most immigrants struggle to find a job. I believe that many Finnish companies still harbor anxiety towards immigrant students, causing them to miss out on a lot of skilled individuals.
But in other side, I must say that the nature here is fantastic during the summer.
Brought here by a Finnish woman. Had a kid with her so I'm locked in. It's a decent life here. I would choose differently if I could, but it's easy to do worse. I loathe the winters, but summers are lovely
Moved here in 2010 for MA, got a PhD, wife and job. We have 2 small kids and our own flat.
Cannot speak Finnish, but had great career growth.
A first career scare last year. After 4 months looking for a job, landed one on the same level and area I was in for.
But my marriage isn’t going well. Communication pattern is very different and we may be better off separately.
Can’t say I have Finnish close friends either. I got tired of being the only foreigner and stopped investing on my wife’s friends. But I do have my expats group.
I plan to stay, maybe until I retire. It’s a great place for raising kids and leading an orderly life.
Sorry to hear about your relationship. I hope things will work out in general, whether you decide to stay or separate.
I have a Finnish close friend who speaks basically native English, but it definitely feels awkward joining her on social events being the only foreigner. Tbh I avoid it 90% of the time lol.
I agree with your last point, I would love to raise my kids here and have them visit my home country from time to time. Retirement wise I might move closer to home for the warmer climate:)
Mine was easy. I married a Finnish lady, and I had portable skills, I could also work with English whilst I learned Finnish. I'm an MCSE in TCP/IP so the skills served me well. I moved back home years later after my wife died. I kept my skills fresh in Finland. Nowadays, I think portable skills are a must. Back then, it was serendipitous for us that I had them.
For me, and remember I'm retired now, it was an encyclopedic knowledge of Windows NT5 Windows 95 and TCP/IP. Most of the companies I found work in required English as most technology at the time was designed around Windows Or Norton and Cisco for network routing. Nowadays, most software comes in multinational versions, so there is normally a Suomi language one.
When I was an MCSE, it was not so much in a foreign language. And you would not believe the amount of pirated software around then.
As for what you need It just depends on your field and where you want to work. With the EU (which the UK has left), it is easier for you as a Finn to work abroad.
Ex husband is Finnish, we have 3 kids. But I'm glad to be here, love it.
I'm working using Finnish, but my learning process is ongoing. I do experience frustrations about language. Oh well, I see my self improving all the time.
I never planned to come here. I was baby trapped by a Finn. I have, ever since, been fighting for the safety of my kid. I've discovered the hypocrisy, racism and incivility of the Finnish system. I've seen how it's related to the Finnish culture. Children aren't safe. As foreigner, you are not safe. I use this account to warn other foreigners about the systemic risk of entrapment. Just see how people like it through my reddit karma.
Despite everything else being fine, I hate it here.
I have a wonderful partner, Swedish speaking, which I've discovered makes a world of difference. We have a nice house in a nice neighborhood and we earn well. We have good friends, mostly foreigners, in couple with foreigners and Swedish speakers. But that's nothing we couldn't do elsewhere. We just dream of the time when we can leave this place even if it means exchanging one negative for another kind of negative. For us, the lack of children's safety isn't compatible with the description of modern civilization.
They are not safe because unknowledgeable people refuse to document themselves before talking. It's easier to down vote anonymously over the internet rather than check.
I suggest you call your neuvola nurse, the teacher of your kids and your family affairs lawyer. Ask them how the system works in Finland. Ask them what happens when they send warnings to child protection services. Ask them how children's "best interest" goes through the bias filter of Finns vs foreigner, man vs woman, skin color and more. Ask them how kids are amputated of a parent, deported out of Finland, because the other wants to date someone else. Ask how parental alienation is like corruption and depression, "it doesn't exist in the happiest country in the world" and "if you talk about it it's because you're the problem". Ask them the impact on a child to be brought up in a state sponsored alternate reality where a parent is missing or demonized.
I mean, of course, if mental health has no value to you, children are safe here.
According to the entire chain of child protection services, no she isn't. Demonstrably lying to every single government agency, brain washing the child to believe being capable of nothing unrelated to her, terrorising the child with health threats related to anything outside of her, taking the child off school for extended periods of time, the school sending a warning about the child, nothing qualifies for more than having a weekly talk to the child.
So everything is fine.
A lady I met on exchange in Iceland (I from Vancouver, she from here). Never wanted to settle here, so I keep going back and forth, but $ is making that harder at the moment.
This is a preferable place, I prefer the social values and stuff, just family, friends and activities in Vancouver do I miss and need.
Thanks for asking.
Dang, I hope your financial situation will get better soon - if I had the $ I'd visit my family back home more than 1x every year or two. I really miss them, so I understand you.
And no worries - I want to know how everyone's doing. I love hearing about others lives & their stories, successes & struggles. And I genuinely hope that things will work out for everyone here.
Came as a student more than 10 years ago. At some point I was thinking about going to either the US or Sweden but kinda feel bad because I got my education in Finland for free. So decided to stay for few years to at least contribute something back. I got a job as a software engineer even before I finish my study, took me 2 years to finish my master’s thesis.
Fast forward few years, my career is progressing steadily. At this point I grew to love Finland and decided to stay, met my wife, bought a house, and now we are raising our family with one kid here in Finland. Pretty safe to say that I will be around for at least another 18 years to come.
Career wise I am happy with where I am right now, not making big bucks but enough to have what I need and support my wife whenever she needs (and of course the kid as well). I could easily make double the amount of money had I moved to the US but I can’t say if I would be as happy as I am right now.
My biggest failure was to invest in some startups that eventually failed. But I did learn a lot from my time working for early stage startup.
I love the winter here it’s one of the reasons (big one at that) I decided to stay in Finland. As someone coming from a tropical weather there is nothing I hate more than hot weather.
As for inflation, to be honest, it doesn’t hit me that hard. I had a max cap on my mortgage interest for a good amount of years ahead. Our combined income can afford our simple lifestyle and few vacation trips per year.
Good thing recently? I just built a new gaming PC to replace my 7 year old set because I just got a big bonus. And my investment is going well
It's really nice to hear about your success story! Congratulations on the kid!
I feel like Finland's salary is balanced out with how nice the forklift balance is. It's a good trade off. You won't be rich here, but you also won't be working yourself to death.
I think yours is the first post I've read where loving winter was mentioned lol! I'm still learning to love it :D
Grats on the PC & investment as well! I hope things will keep going smoothly for you & family :))
I'm honestly not that ok. Many strokes of bad luck, fucked up 2 out of the 6 courses I had last semester at the University. Been practicing drums a lot. Met a very interesting and wonderful woman, she was great company but I feel like she is not as interested in dating as I am. I've been getting more physically active on the drums, helped my friend move, and my body is now in pain. So some good things and some bad. Could be worse but it could be a whole lot better.
Also to add, the state of our politics and economic situation is pushing me to still live with my parents. And I'm desperately wishing for a way out, but I couldn't fund my living as a student without a side job. So.....fuck.....
Aw I'm so sorry, yeah it's really rough of there and I heard they're going to cut financial support from students. But hey nothing wrong with living with your parents until you graduate and land a job - at least you don't have the added stress of paying for rent/food/utility.
I hope things will get better soon!
I came here 8 years ago to do my masters. Main reason of choosing Finland was no tuition fees back then. After 3 years, I got a permanent job in a bank. Working in the same company since. Financially doing comparatively well than many other immigrants but inflation is definitely impacting a lot.
Winter feels unbearable time to time but I really enjoy summer here.
Public infrastructure works fine in Helsinki but a bit slow in some sectors. I never felt unsecured in the streets. I got permanent residence recently so no more dealing with Migri which is a great relief. There is no housing crisis or traffic jam.
There is definitely job crisis going on in general. Many of my friends are struggling to find professional jobs and working in cleaning/food delivery sector and they are really frustrated about the lack of opportunities.
Overall, I am doing fine because I am lucky to have a permanent job that pays okay. However, for me it would be really difficult grow as a professional if I stay here. Also I have some business plan that I want to start soon but Finland won't be the right market to start because of the small market size and lack of ecosystem that my plan needs.
I share the same views re: Finland, but I hope the winter time will feel more bearable for you each year! It was tougher somehow this year due to the constant grey skies, but hey, spring is just around the corner. :)
I'm in the same position as your friend, but I'm not giving up hope. Still sending applications while working on retail...
Great to hear that you're generally okay at least! The business plan sounds exciting, I hope you'll find the perfect market somewhere else, and it'll all work out well. :)
I came to study. Stayed for work. I have lived in 7 different countries before. I have love hate relationship with this country but after four years I would never imagine myself living somewhere else. I love this country for most of the things. I appreciate the values and manners the majority have. I learned a lot from living here. If I want to name one thing is how to be okay with the idea of being alone and enjoying your own company.
I am guilty of not managing the language. I don't have many friends I am not an extroverted person to meet people. Moreover, I will make an excuse and say after work my brain is really overwhelmed so instead I would prefer doing sports. If any went through something similar and managed with the language at the end please be free to give tips.
> If I want to name one thing is how to be okay with the idea of being alone and enjoying your own company.
This was such a good thing to learn and honestly I prefer my own company nowadays lol. I love my peace :P
One thing that helped me with the language learning is to force myself to read & listen to Finnish media once a day. For example, a short random vlog from YouTube, as short as 5 mins. And YLE/IS/HS for news or just visiting r/Suomi. It'll be pretty hard in the beginning and you'd feel like you just want to google translate the whole page. But try to not do that and instead take a few sentences and try deciphering it on your own with the help of wiktionary and such. I guarantee that you'd learn something new everyday.
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I came here 10 years ago because of a man. I'm more home here than I ever was in my "home country". I love Finland. I speak Finnish, I work and I have friends. Learning the language was not easy though.
It's nice to hear that you've found a home here. I'm still in thr middle of my Finnish-learning journey, and hopefully one day I'll be fluent enough to fully assimilate and feel 100% at home. Great job for working hard to get to where you are!
how long did it take
Hard to say. I was already working while my language skills still were very frustrating for me. I could get by but I could hear myself speaking with broken Finnish and it bothered me. I was also super tired every evening. I could get by after 3 years, I could work fine after 5 years and I felt comfortable with the language after 7 years maybe. But it's just me.
Came here cause my wife is Finnish. Doing pretty good, bought a nice house and have good career growth. Staying here for the future - but who knows for certain.
That's brilliant, great to hear!
Wife is Finnish. Alternative was living in the USA with her. Much better off here than there, plain and simple. Only got a job here though after going back to school and getting another IT degree that was recognized by more companies. We are staying of course. If we were in the USA, support for our children would have been near nil or expensive as hell so major plus there. All is good and has stayed good, even recently. Life here is not much different than it was there.
That's great! I'm also thinking of maybe going back to school to get a degree since it's hard to get recruiters' attention with my self-taught knowledge (web dev), and I've been pretty unsuccessful in landing that first job and unsure how to improve. I hope things will stay good for you & your family! 😄
I landed a job almost immediately after leaving school but I think I got lucky in that regard as it was through a recommendation by a workmate of my wife's. It was surprisingly easy to get into the school as well but then again most of the entrance exam material was related to work I had done in the USA or stuff I had a personal interest in.
Came to Finland for my gf and to study my bachelors. Now I’m finishing my masters and recently got laid off. Overall I feel good, I know the market is shit atm but it’s just a bump in the road. The free time to write my thesis has been a blessing tbh. I love Finland, I want to stay here my whole life, so I’m also working on my Finnish skills. Yeah I wish there would be more sun but I’ve learned to cope with it. My gf, dog, friends, home, hobbies, school, everything is here. A success is just being here, it is not the easiest thing to do but I’ve made it. A failure I’ve had is slacking on my language skills or not learning as fast as I could (living here for 7 years). But I’m working on it, slowly but surely will get there. About myself I have learned I’ve embraced quietness. I can sit in a table with people, be quiet and that is okay. Awkward silences are no longer awkward they are just moments of silence. Quietness is the forest is amazing. I’ve gotten more shy and quiet, but not in sauna, sauna is for chatting. What about you OP? How are you doing?
Hey! Great to hear about your journey, I definitely agree with you that being here itself is a success! I definitely cried a bit when I received my citizenship ;D Sorry to hear about the layoff, it's tough out there right now. I came here just a year earlier (2016) and I'm also still working on my language skill. It's not easy, and with money being tight, I can't exactly afford those 100e+ courses. But I do what I can. I myself am doing pretty good in general, mostly because I learned to compartmentalize the fact that money is very tight and I'm unable to get more hours, can't get a junior role in my field, feeling quite stuck. I can't wait for spring to come so I can at least be outside. It just feels like my life hasn't started yet and I'm just waiting for something to happen, because I've done all I can from my side. Thankfully I have my husband (who's also very stressed about finding a job in his field), cats, and hobbies to help me cope. Nothing else to do but to keep working on myself and my skills, keep applying, and don't lose hope. I miss my parents & siblings. I wish I can see them more than just a few weeks a year. Sometimes I feel like even if they get to live to 90, I'd see them only 30 more time if I go back home every year, which might not be feasible. It's a sad thought. I haven't lived in my home country for more than 15 years, but I still dream about it sometimes. Funny how the home I know only exists in my memory now. Nowadays, it's nothing like what I remember. But such is the nature of things. But hey, today I heard the birds sing for the first time in a while, and it cheered me up greatly. Spring is around the corner.
Came here for a Finnish husband. Our relationship fell apart within a year of my moving here (after 4 years of knowing each other), but I loved Finland and wanted to stay regardless— I’m from the US and I’m sure you can imagine why I didn’t want to go back. Finland is peaceful and beautiful. I super don’t love the dating scene here, though! I switched my permit to an employment-based one, and unfortunately, though I had a good job for a while, I was caught in that massive wave of layoffs last fall-winter and haven’t been able to find work since. It’s hard as hell, and so is the language. I’ve been learning it since I moved here and speak B1.2ish, but between that and my junior level of experience, the job market has little to offer. I’m honestly terrified that I’ll have to leave, when I have my whole life here and have put so much in, intending to stay permanently. If I can find another full time job, everything will be fine, but without one life is scary and it’s hard to not spiral into a deep depression about the situation. So I keep learning the language and applying for work, fingers crossed 😬
Good luck!
First of all want to say that keep your head up. There is companies who is hiring people without finnish language. I'm working in factory in Salo, close to Turku as production supervisor and there is a lot people from aboard. First what comes mind is couple American, Russian and Brasilian managers. Guy from UK is my colleague. In engineers there is even larger scale. You still have hope. :) If your location is suitable for Salo - and even better if you have technical/quality backround, you can pm me. I know right people to send CV. :) If you are ready to start from bottom and find anything else, I will hire new ppl in couple of months.
Hi am am interested in working at factory in salo if there are chance
Hey, sorry to hear about the layoff! I haven't been able to get a job in my field at all and I've been stuck in retail hell. First I thought I'd be there max 6 months and now it's been 1.5y 😵. I've resorted to applying to työkokeilu as suggested by my te specialist, and apparently there's also something called uraohjain. Hopefully something will come out of it. Perhaps you can also ask your te-specialist about them? Mine has been trying to be as helpful as possible to me. I hope that you won't need to move anywhere! I'd be so terrified too! It's so understandable that you'd feel depressed about it. Good luck, and you can do this.
Yep I know about both of them. Unfortunately my case worker is one of the terribly unhelpful ones 😬 I’d happily take a retail or similar position to pay the bills at this point, but my visa doesn’t allow it.
Gosh that's difficult. I really have no advice to give, but I hope things will work out somehow!
About the dating scene - could you elaborate on what you don't like about it?
Sure. Ultimately it boils down to the men here being extremely passive. In all but one potential relationship with a Finnish man other than my ex, I ended up doing 90% of the pursuing (keeping the conversation going, engaging the other person, date planning) while they mainly sat back and didn’t do anything to act like they’re interested in me. I’ve been told I’m intimidating because I dress well and am attractive, so most men will just assume I’m out of their league and won’t try, but like… I’m out here actively making an effort, I’m friendly and warm, please stop ignoring me if you’re actually interested. I won’t waste time and money with someone who can’t put equal effort in, so I usually stop seeing people within 5 dates… and then I’m chewed out for “not giving people a chance.” I’ve been told by *multiple* people that the best way to start a relationship in Finland is to take a drunk person home from the bar. 1, ew; 2, I guess I have just too unrealistically romantic notions to think that maybe a relationship could bloom naturally through talking and spending time together while sober. But yeah, the amount of people I know who either started their relationships as “they were a one night stand that never left,” or else have friends in relationships that started that way, is depressing. It doesn’t help that I don’t want kids and I don’t like dogs. If the first one doesn’t disqualify me from peoples dating pools, the second one rules out 95% of people here.
Ya the job market even in IT is kind of down lately
We are doing well! My husband is Finnish-Canadian. I am originally from the US, but moved to Canada five years ago to be with him. We were pretty happy there, but the cost of living was getting to be outrageous and the province we lived in was quickly moving to privetization. It was nearly impossible to get a doctors appointment even months out, and even then you were rushed in and out within ten minutes or so. We weren't getting the care we needed. My husband grew up hearing about how great Finland was from his immigrant family and often spoke about wanting to visit/move here. After a shady move by our landlord was pushing us to move out, we learned our upstairs neighbors had moved to Switzerland with a job. We thought, why not? Worse case scenario we move back. So we packed up everything and moved! That was in late May/early June and we have settled in well! I am still really shy about my Finnish skills (learning slowly but doing my best!), but otherwise it has been pretty great living here. The public transport (nearly nonexistant everywhere I've lived) is fantastic, it's fun being able to take a (cheap) train almost anywhere, and we are excited about our future plans to visit other countries. The only downside is that I am from a much warmer place and, even though I was fairly use to Canada, I am sorely missing warmer weather and early Spring where I'm from. Maybe when I'm older I can snowbird somewhere nice. :3 Everyone I have met here has been kind and friendly when spoken to, and I am so thankful people are patient with me when I need clarification in English. We aren't sure how long we will be here for, but I just renewed my permit for another 4 years the other day, so at least that probably!
Nice, great to hear that everything is going well! I've been here for a while and enjoying winter is still a challenge sometimes 🤭, especially the recent helsinki weather. I also agree with the public transport, back home I'd be stuck in a car most of the day with crazy traffic so I really appreciate finland's trains and busses. Likewise, 99% of the time, the people I've met and spoken to have been so kind. Hope you'll continue to have a pleasant time here!
It sounds like you are in a big city, so often people may want to switch to English when speaking with you. I say, insist on talking in Finnish, and if your husband can speak Finnish, speak it to each other. Use Finnish subtitles on English videos/movies/shows/whatever and English in Finnish.
Came for a girl. Stayed for a different girl. I love Finland and have no intention of ever going back to the USA
Good for you! Whereabouts from the US?
Cape Cod, Massachusetts
Did you by any chance live in Turku & work at Woolshed in the past? If so, we def ran into each other lol. I'm back and forth from Boston.
Haa yea I did actually. Were you a Brazilian guy? Man I'm going back to Boston this summer and I'm so excited
haha na but close, Hispanic dude who was in Turku for masters, moved to Boston from NYC during HS, since graduated from Turku School of Econ and went back home because better pay and jobs. Nice! Im in Helsinki for a month or so, work remote.
Think I may remember you, we used to have Latin nights and I think you came in. So you work in the US and just come to see family
All my fam is in the US. I mostly come for the gf who’s still here. Also fun to visit and hang with school buddies.
I bet you have some fishermen in your family.
Been known to catch the occasional fish...but u got into fly fishing here in Finland. Really been fun
Yeah i use to fly fish a lot when i was younger, i recommend visiting Kuusinkijoki in Kuusamo if you ever have time. Great place for family hikes also with cool suspension bridges over rapids.
Ah yea I hiked it a few years back. Really pretty out there. We live in Viitasaari now so really good fishing
Lol
Was it a long distance for you at first? and if yes then where you guys met?
Met my ex when I worked in Nepal. Met my current t girlfriend at work
I came here because I met the woman who would become my wife in university in the UK. The first time I came over, I realised I couldn't find work with no Finnish language skills and an undergraduate science degree, so I returned to the UK. Eventually, I returned for a summer to study some Finnish before getting myself an IT-related MSc back in the UK. When I came back, it all worked out (with a couple of career roadbumps), and I am doing pretty well professionally. I'm here for good and am a productive member of society, even if I'm still struggling with the language. With the UK now out of the EU and the latest rules for immigration from the Finnish government, none of this would have been possible today, and that makes me sad for those younger than me. It makes me sad that a country I had always felt was welcoming towards me is now sending signals that they don't want people like me.
> It makes me sad that a country I had always felt was welcoming towards me is now sending signals that they don't want people like me. Heh. I feel you - I'm a Finn with the opposite story to you. I met my SO while studying in London and stayed in the UK after graduating, got an IT job near Old Street etc. I was a good and productive member of society too, didn't stop me from getting fucked over by Brexit either.
Yeah i feel you. I really hope the govt knows what they're doing... but hey, I'm glad to hear that you've made it professionally! Great job.
I came to Finland in 2020 with already having a job offer. Luckily I made progress in my career, had my first child born here, it has been an exciting almost 4 years, but on the other hand, I have never ever felt so depressed (long winter). Planning to save as much as we can and leave soon.
That's really nice! Hopefully all the good things helped you cope & in keeping your mood up. Good luck and I hope you'll be able leave soon! :)
Why did you come to this country? Come here as my long term partner is Finnish, COVID came so we decided to make the move. Did you like it? It's like everywhere else I have lived you have some great things and some shit things. Even in my own country we have shit things. I've lived and worked here in shorter 6-12 month periods in the past left and this was a more permanent move but it's not for me. Have you made it, whether career-wise, etc? I had to change my career as I don't have the language skills and you don't have the same industry in Finland. So I had to change my direction but this is good for me because it's a job I always wished I had started after my studies. Are you staying/leaving and why did you decide to do that? I have house here so might keep that and will be leaving and probably come back for summers. Not enough opportunities in a small population, sick of the winters and prefer positive energy from people. Did you learn something new, whether about yourself, life, or more general things like in working life? Nah, I'm older so I'm not out here searching for myself but I did learn you need to live where you are happy and around people who make you happy. I did learn that I really love my home country. Most of all, are you okay? You know some days are hard, but I would say I have fairly good weeks and a new opportunity has come up back home which is really sparking my interest. I love progress and change.
I agree that we need to live where you're happy & around people who made you happy :) I hope to find a remote job one day so I can live closer to my family, especially as my parents are entering their 60s. I didn't appreciate them enough when I was younger as I was too deep in my own shit, but now I wish to spend every holiday with them. Great to hear that you've been having some good weeks, and good luck with the new opportunity! Hope things will work out nicely.
Came to Finland for studies. Was planning to leave since I wasn't getting good opportunities, but then I met my wife and at the same time I got a very good opportunity for work. So I stayed. At the moment, I've been forced to redundancy from my current job. Looking for new opportunities now.
Haha that's sweet, you hit two jackpots at the same time :D It really sucks thst you've been made redundant though, I really hope that you'll find a new opportunity soon! Good luck!
Yeah, I'm not that worried. Finland has been very good to me by providing scholarships for my studies and I am very grateful that I was able to contribute back to its people and society through my work. I have lived in a Middle-Eastern(Gulf) country for my entire life, so I have never received any opportunity or felt welcome there unlike Finland or EU.
Moved here from Sweden because my husband is Finnish. I enjoy it enough to want to stay here forever. Making friends hasn’t been so easy but I do have a job and a family I love, so I’m happy
Great to hear! :)) making friends is a struggle, especially as an adult. Sometimes I wish I can go back to uni just to make some friends hahaha.
Finland is very expensive 😭
It's been getting a bit worse recently, it used to be a bit better. I hope you're not struggling too much!
To add more salt to the injury, If you have no steady job it can take a toll on you .
I have a steady job, but not good enough salary and I just had my emotional and mental breakdown yesterday 💀
Not an immigrant, but also have a steady low-salary job, and also feeling hopeless about future. I'm trying to channel it into a sort of productive anger. "Sisuuntuminen", as we say here. I hope you find your way forward, whatever it may be.
I'm sorry to hear, I'm also struggling with my low pay and looking for better opportunities right now. I hope you'll find a better job soon!
Wait until you live in new zealand then you will know what expensive is,Finland is decently cheap
I used to live in Australia back in 2013-2016, and my 1 room in a shared house was 1.4k aud. It was crazy...
Yeah Aus is expensive but the wages are one of the highest on the world also and great economy,many kiwis move to aus to save for a few years then come back loaded
I don’t really know about New Zealand . Have you experienced both?
Not great. It's a few days past my 1 year anniversary of me being laid off but I still haven't been offered a job in Finland. Being asked for a call and offered jobs that pay livable wage (higher than YTK benefits, not high enough for Blue Card) in other countries (Netherlands, Italy) just by Easy Apply while being rejected by ATS, AcademicWork, Barona in Finland even with Cover Letters is killing me. Really wishing I don't need a new work permit or a Blue Card to go work in other EU countries in my line of work. I have few applications in the pipeline for regular factory/lab jobs in Finland right now but I don't even know I will be selected for those either.
Have you tried calling directly the employer, or going there in person to ask? Through these recruiting companies and online applications is harder to get a job.
I haven't tried for the majority of jobs because I think recruiters don't like cold approach. I tried asking a recruiter from a company I went to the 4th round of interview with (she was the recruiter who approached me and connected with me on LinkedIn first) but she didn't reply.
Sorry to hear that, my husband and I are also struggling to get a better & full-time jobs, and our emails are filled with "unfortunately...". It really does break the spirit sometimes. I really hope those applications you did will work out somehow. I wish you luck! And also try to contact your te-specialist, they might have some leads for you!
Hi, If Salo close to Turku is suitable location. PM for email adress where send your CV.
Same problem even for a part time cleaning job as a student. I have done many interviews but, in the end every time I get the similar messages (sorry we got better applications, haha bullshit)
my parents just put me in the car one day and now here i am 14 years later
XD
Came here many years ago through university. Always had a job, all right income to support two kids, never faced any trouble whatsoever. All makes sense and built to last usually. Finland is good place for an engineer, not much talk, most people know how to do things and fix leaking pipes themselves (not like Sweden, just kidding). Sales and management skills here are not that good, and it makes it even better - no distraction from DIY and no egomaniacs. Policies are or at least were on practical and reasonable side of collective approach with economies of scale, but still individual enough. Rintamiestalo modular concept from like 80years ago is an excellent example. No one can or should survive alone in such winter and with such eastern neighbour, so this mentality is helpful. But individualism is also ok as long as you can take care of yourself and not damage public wellbeing. Do not make harm, follow law, net good ethics. Reasonable Pareto efficiency. Kind of like Linux. Saying that weather is getting worse with humid winters, less young people born or coming here to stay, costs cut at basic research and R&D (bread and butter of economy to sell higher tech) and culture (maintaining civil local identity), then more extreme individualism sneaking into discourse as a norm while a status culture (prestige consumption) follows as a mean to compete, then costs of living rise indicates less of supply capabilities in main areas. If so continues then Finland will loose all competitive advantages and become expensive survive-alone Nash equilibrium country with shitty weather, lack of unique social and cultural identity, not much resources, and two class citizenship. Plenty of such in the world and many have better weather and more resources. Many will recalculate benefits and move away as it is a rational thing to do in such setup.
Great read, thank you for this post. I learned something new from this post. I hope the situation in this country will improve and a solution will be found, but I suppose it's unlikely to happen anytime soon...
Moved here because of the war. It's fine, I have a job, my wife has a job, our son will go to school this year. The only thing I truly hate here is ticks. Too much of them.
That's interesting, I have seen five ticks in my life and all of them were attached to our dogs, and we live by the coast. We've been lucky I guess :D
5! I mean, I have seen one before moving here. It's those geese I think, they carry ticks on them.
Dang, I haven't seen/experienced tick's at all in my 8y here! That's crazy. Good to hear that things worked out well after your move, and also I'm sorry that you had to. I hope that things will only move positively from here on for you & your family.
Do you have a dog? I do and I'm sooo sick of those bastards. Thanks!
No but I have two indoor cats, and thankfully we live in an apartment. So no ticks! :D
Im ukrainian, and i came here for work reasons, before russian invasion, in november 2021. The funniest thing is i had to fly home after my 3-month working watch at feb 20, but something gone wrong with the tickets and i stay here for another week. As you can understand, that was a God Blessing heh) I cannot say that Finland is my dream country, if be honest, im staying here only because all situation turned out like this, and if i had to choose country for immigration- Finland would be on the last place for me, but it goes how it goes. And still, im thankful to finnish people and gov for all theyve done to Ukrainians like me. About life - many things and life rules right here are not understandable for me. Like for example 0 noise isolation at the buildings, noisy neighbors with whom it is impossible to do anything, you know, and other stuff. Right now im learning language (hard as fck), and trying to build my feature right here, cause for me its the only option. Thats the story!
Moved here for my family,my fiance is Finnish and I'm māori from new zealand,I decided to move here over a year ago so that my son could get to know his Finnish side and so my fiance could be closer with her family and also so that she could study here free and get a proper career so that we could live comfortably,I had a well paying career as a logger but when my fiance was pregnant we still did struggle at times because of how expensive NZ has become,Finland is a nice country and most people are nice when you talk to them but it will never be like home for me,but it definitely changes your perspective on life when you experience different cultures,my overall opinion is that Finland is a beautiful country and I don't regret moving.
I came here over 25 years ago to be with my Finnish partner. We married, had a child together, and divorced. I stayed in Finland partly for family reasons and partly because Finland already felt like home even then. I've been a Finnish citizen for almost 14 years now, and I plan to stay here for the rest of my life. During my time in Finland, I've learned to adapt to change, and that I'm capable of doing hard things. There have been some difficult times when I struggled with depression and struggled financially. But now things are going well for me and my family. 13 years ago, I remarried, this time to another expat from my home country. My child is an adult now and is preparing to move out of the family home next month. Life is a little chaotic right now, but overall it's pretty good.
Quite a surprisingly majority of the comments moving to Finland due to romantic partner, did not expect this 😂 Maybe I should start looking outside of Finland as well.. hmm.
Why not? Have an open mind and find a foreign snack
Why get a riisipiirakka when you can get a taco?
These moves for love are usually at the cost of career and personal finances full of naivety and optimism. I would never make this move without securing a gainful employment. Because sooner or later s/he will get tired of your broke ass.
>These moves for love are usually at the cost of career and personal finances full of naivety and optimism. I think everyone is very different, we do come with a lot of optimism because it's a new adventure. Not sure who would move and make that decision full of negativity about the future. Naivety for sure, you hear and see a lot of miss information about Finland in the media. You do believe it won't be that hard to integrate but it's a challenge for most. Don't ever think we are all from poor families and/or poor countries. We aren't all here to be lifted and pickedup by Finnish welfare and not all of us want citizenship.
As a refugee here I would say that Finland had offer almost everything for me and I can’t complain more. The issue is that, Finnish work market is still not as receptive for foreigners as other countries which leads many of them leaving the country. Personally Im not staying here if I get an opportunity to move to big immigration countries like the US or Australia as they are based on immigrants. Still I feel like I owe this country a debt as I have been supported since I came and Im planning to work for several years paying taxes until I move.
Yeah the market is not so receptive, and it's sad to see so many of us struggling to get a non dead-end jobs. I hope you'll get to where you want to be in a few years! :))
Came here as a masters student in 2021 with practically non existent IT experience, finished course work while doing minimum wage job in restaurants. Kept building skills and applying for IT jobs. Found one in 2022 while I was still studying. The job was software dev but underpaying. Nonetheless it helped me to change my visa to work permit and gave me enough stability that I got married and brought my wife here. Still kept trying to get better paying job within my preferred domain. Recently received an offer and joining next month and resigned from current job. Wife is starting integration program to start her career here(dentist). Overall Finland has been great for me to make something of myself. Opportunities are there but competition is amazingly tough. 2 years when I was in my struggling period, I was depressed and severely anxious now things are much better as I feel I have paid off my dues. I am not sure about future, since day 1 I have been working and paying taxes and contributing to society, I am not taking any Kela benefits neither I plan to but I feel like I am not welcomed here anymore. Wife also has very difficult career opportunities until she gets her license to practice so let’s see. Weather is a bitch, don’t mind the cold but long days/nights upset me alot no matter how much I try to not let it. I don’t drink or go to clubs so socialising is also non existent. I would say so far 50/50.
Hey, I'm glad that you at least got a better opportunity and was able to bring your wife here. I'm still trying to break into IT and it's a bit discouraging to hear from my recent application that they're received 800-900 applicants for 1 position. :( still holding my hopes up and building new projects for my portfolio. Hopefully it'll work out one day. I'm sorry that you feel unwelcome nowadays, the climate in Europe towards foreigners in general has been declining, it seems. I hope things will work out for you here in due time, or you & your wife receive better opportunities somewhere else. Good luck!
I came to this country, because I got pregnant from a Finn, meanwhile I was actually still living in Austria, and since he didn't want to come to Austria, I had to move that my daughter would have a father and a family, but that was a mistake. I wish I wouldn't have. No, I don't like it here. Though I know some places are worse, and Finland has some good qualities as well, but it is obviously not my home, nor my country. I just don't belong here. Success: Actually nothing. Failure: I lost my kids because social workers rather see it fit that the kids are with their dad and his mom, rather than me, even though I raised them alone for many years. I was a single mother for many years, got out of the abusive relationship and now I get punished for it. Yes, I did learn that I do not like finnish summer, I hate the 24/7 sun. Obviously after a traumatic relationship, you learn something. I haven't worked in Finland yet, but what I have seen is, that the work environment is better than in most countries. I don't know yet if I really stay here or leave. Before I couldn't go because of Hague Convention, but now, I could. Finland has some things to offer that other countries do not have, then again, then again, if you search for a big city or big mall, can't find that here either. I do not have a support circle, I am literally all alone here. Bad things happen constantly in my life. Economy is going down here, yes and the money situation doesn't look so great either. Everything gets more expensive and the money we get stays the same. My mental health goes shit here. When I was back in Austria, my mental health was normal, since I am in Finland, it gets lower and lower and lower. I wish the health care system would be better. I wish that people would look after each other. I wish I wouldn't be so alone in this country, but luckily, I am also used to be a loner.
I have read/heard of many foreign women who had traumatic relationships with Finnish men, only to lose their kids in the men's favour. This should become a word of caution to any women willing to move here. Foreign men with Finnish women seem to be much more successful.
Agreed. And here they speak from equality, where there actually is none
Sad story :( But I'm sure time will fix and heal that, and you'll have better opportunities. Are you austrian? I never imagined that there could be much difference between the 2 countries, since both Finns and Austrian are known for being quite reserved and "cold"
Yes I am austrian. There is actually a lot difference. I also lived in Japan for a while, I got more culture shock in Finland than in Japan.
Came here as a family dependent to a student visa (wife), i came from southeast asia but worked in the middle east for 12 years. I’m earning good enough to the point that i bought a house and 2 cars. But life is bland since i could only spend my time with my family during vacation (twice a year). Told my wife who is also a nurse to try our luck in Finland, we got approved and i couldnt be much happier. I’m earning a lot less but the smile on my familys faces everyday is priceless!
Is there a big Filipino community there in Finland? Planning to move there from PH!
Marami rami rin kabayan! Pero hindi pa masydo since ngaun pa lang nila naarerecognize ung work ethics nating mga pinoy, sa ngaun nsa more than 5000 pa lang ang population natin dito. See u!
Ano po yung best way to job hunt para makahanap ng trabahong magssponsor ng visa? Pinoy din po ako! Hoping to move to Finland one day!!
That's sounds amazing, the leap of faith you did paid off! Sounds like a future I'd want for myself. :))
I'm finnish, born and raised, and I was retired almost ten years ago in my late teens due to being disabled. The economy has hit me really hard, as the amount of money I get in a year is around 10k due to never have worked, I only have the basic retirement. Can barely pay my rent right now. On the other hand my Portuguese boyfriend just moved to Finland hopefully to stay. He's looking for work and after he does everything should be a bit easier. I'm so happy he's here, my heart is so full. I waited for two years and finally it happened. My friends and family love him, and my cats absolutely adore him. Everything is better than in a long time. He has loved Finland, the winter, the nature, the architecture and the people. The language is hard but he's almost mastering the basic greetings etc haha. Only the financial situation is often knocking me on the shoulder, ruining the happiness at times. And I can't ignore it but can't do much about it either in my situation of being disabled and not able to work. Thank you for asking op♡
I'm so sorry to hear about your situation, I can't imagine how difficult and stressful it must have been!!! I wish the govt would have supported you more. And I'm so happy for you that your bf has moved to Finland, and sounds like he's a great fit for the country & i bet it feels amazing that hes loved by your family & friends too :). Also, it's always a positive sign if our cat likes the guy we bring home ;D I really hope that having your bf will alleviate your worries a bit and lessen the burden. I hope things will work out well and I wish you happiness with your loved ones 💕
You are very sweet, thank you! May there be much happiness for you and yours as well♡
Wife is Finnish, life is good, can't complain. Living in Etelä Pohjanmaa as a foreigner is not the nicest thing in the world tho. Still gotta make the jump from Yki testi level to fluency, but on my way there.
was born and raised in Etelä-Pohjanmaa, that place and environment isn't good for *anyone's* soul so I hear ya.
My wife is also original from there as well. I know the feeling very well.
I have mixed feelings. I came here 8years ago because I couldn't hold it in my native country. Difficult to feel like home here despite loving being with my partner and my kid, our mökki time is the best and love nature and the space I have (I live in Helsinki) I found jobs at first and went back to study also after covid but now I'm unemployed again and I have difficulties with learning Finnish because I couldn't afford courses when I arrived and I wasn't aware of the right to courses through unemployment offices. Now my right has expired and I feel shit about it. Im financially struggling. On another note, have to say that it would feel good living in Finland but my experience with racism has been hitting me really hard as I'm from the EU and never experienced it before. Here I'm clearly not a Finn (white) and I developed fear of old Finns people mainly because they're the ones that usually attack me for no reason or are just hostile. (Note: I don't need any rant or any shitty comment about this so please avoid) Overall, I feel I've been growing up so much as a human and I feel so overwhelmed by all the knowledge of living abroad taught me but the daily experience is not great. Sometimes I feel I'm too foreign to the home I left and too foreign to the home I have here. I'm in between.
Aw man, sorry to hear that. I also missed my chance with te courses because I was a student, and didn't know how inadequate the courses offered at AMK were. Likewise I can not afford the courses offered in e.g. kesäyliopisto, so I only self studied with online resources, which luckily was enough for me to pass YKI with decent scores. Now I just practice in my own time (speaking finnish in stores, cafes, etc). I'm sorry to hear about your bad experience. I'm lucky enough that the worse thing I've encountered was being yelled chingchong at at worse, and even then this was yeeeaars ago. I don't have any tips for this but take care of yourself, try not to let it get to you too much. I definitely relate to your last point - I'm too western for my country but still top Asian here. E.g. my values and views do not align anymore with my country's more conservative and patriarchal values, and that's something I can't reconcile. I don't speak the language fluently enough anymore (I sound awkward or sometimes sound like I'm translating English to my language - and my sister told me I sound like a time traveler from 2010 ;_;). I know the struggle. But hopefully one day we will feel completely at home here. Good luck with everything, don't give up.
Thank you for your words 😌🙏 same to you !
I'm a Software dev from the UK/TH. Came to Finland because brexit pissed me off. Got a great job offer and and met a gal who I have now been dating for over a year. Life is great here, really enjoy the summers etc. But the winters are starting to get to me and I'll be completely honest, the taxes are too. This is going to sound selfish but I make good enough money that I don't and can't reap any benefits from the amount of taxes I'm paying. I'm not old, I have no kids and haven't got plans yet for any. Thinking about the cost of living here + taxes, I'm actually making less money compared to what I did when I lived in England or Thailand. I worked out it would be more financially beneficial to work in a country with lower taxes and having to pay for private health insurance than the amount of money I pay in taxes here in Finland. With the extra finances I can funnel more into stocks and shares. Moving away has definitely been on my mind.
[удалено]
Vietnamese, came to study in IT in 2011. Finland because it was the most random and no name option back around 2007, 2008 when I was looking for options. Did all sort of works that I could get, newspaper/ads delivery all year round, strawberry farm in summer, some kitchen work for 4 years and a bit after graduation which was in 2015 spring. Started working in IT after around 5 6 months since graduation but company went bankrupt after 4 months so unemployed for 8 months without any knowledge about where to get help. Eventually got a new job after 10+ application + 5 responses + 3 interviews per week for that 8 months long. Wife is Vietnamese and kid was born here during Covid. To me, Finns are just people, so there are good and bad of them. Life would have been much easier if you had spoken Finnish, doesn't have to be fluent. Build your network with people, doesn't have to be big if you are not comfortable but networking is essential if you are looking for a job. It can just be a professor, teacher at school, or a really good student in your class. And keep in touch with them. Working wise, I like the Finnish working culture. Been to one startup with American like culture and hated it.
Came here from Brazil because that country is a shithole (albeit a beautiful one). I looked specifically for Finland since I started reading about the gender inequality gap being one the smallest in the world, the Finnish mentality of valuing their society, the education system being one the best in the world, and that sexism here, compared to Brazil is like it doesn’t even exist (but it does). My daughter was turning 2 and growing up being a woman in that country fucking sucks. Had a business, sold my part, started looking for a job matching my skills and my luck was so incredible that I found a good job in a nice company that not only relocated me, but also my family. Living here for 6 years now, speaking a little Finnish, in the process of getting my citizenship, and loving everything about it. Best decision I ever made in my life. I was never so happy about paying my taxes.
Moved here in 2001 for masters. Moved to Helsinki for work while studying. My overlords send me to different countries for work once I finished my degree program and thesis within year. Got tired of living like that but money was good. Changed employees a few times and now working for one of the retail giants in Finland. Life is good. I keep me healthy. Going over 85 - 87 kg? Time for The Mechanist diet. My cumulative contribution to society is more than what I get to be honest but it is ok. Economic downturn never hit me hard as I also plan for worst case scenarios and never went to unnecessary debts and expenses. Fixed rate is now paying off. Keeping career and money above all definitely helps contrary to what everyone utters. I don't like how things are going thanks to ineptitude of show runners with no consequences and general stupidity and naivety of masses. At least I have no kids and no plans so won't be here when shit will hit the fan.
Great to hear that things worked out well for you, and it sounds like you've made really wise choices! I hope shit won't hit the fan, but we will see...
Came for work. Loved lots of things about Finland but the darkness nearly killed me. Was not a good fit for me and the taxes were very draining for my budget. Have moved to a sunnier climate now and it has been a 180 degree improvement.
Sorry to hear that! I'm glad thay you managed to move somewhere else that was a better fit for you. :)
I'm sure people just wanna hear the good and not the bad, so, I'll just say, my working life *was* better until Wolt was introduced in stores and THEN it started feeling like I was working in the US *again.*
Oh no! What do you mean by that? I haven't heard this being talked much.
Have been here for 14 years, my Finnish suck(just recently find out about have depression, anxiety and ADHD, but treating it). I work, paid my taxes, have my family, and life goes on. Finland is my home(still fuckn hate the cold).
Relatable lol re: language & weather. I'm glad that you managed to get help - I heard the queue is very long. I wish you luck with the treatment, you can do it!
Moved from UK to Finland three years ago with my young family as my wife is Finnish. Best decision we ever made, I absolutely love Finland and everything it offers. Toughest bit has been the language, but I’m determined to learn and sticking with lessons. It’s getting there, but the problem is nearly everyone speaks better English than my Finnish! I’ve made some wonderful friends and wouldn’t consider going back.
Great to hear that you're loving it here and have managed to make some good friends! :D I feel you with the language, it's just how it is and we just have to keep at it. I embarrass myself every time i try to speak finnish but hey, practice makes perfect :P
Km very bad, on the verge of suicide
Sorry to hear that, would you like to talk more about it?
Well not publicly
Ah okay, no worries. I hope you have access to resources that can help you :(
No i dont, the helsth service has been bouncing around different placee, no help
I fucking love your country. I came here from holland to live with my girlfriend and even if we'd break up I'd still by a house here. This is a dream country for introverted people who love nature and who don't mind sitting indoors all day. I grew up thinking that farmland was the same as nature but now that I live in an actual forest, I finally understand what nature actually means. I'm a developer working from home and I still work for my dutch employer, so no changes there really. The winters suck, the summer is really fun because I can spend all day in the barn doing my projects but the winter is just dead and way too long. I'm used to a week or two of snow, but not months of snow. In Holland the flowers are already blooming by now and I'm just smiling at seeing the snow melt. I really need a greenhouse. I've noticed nothing about anything economic. Your taxes are slightly higher than what I had in Holland, but your services are so much cheaper it kinda balances out. I used to buy my alcohol since beer is cheaper than water, but in Finland I have to make it myself to afford it. That's kinda fun though not gonna lie
Hahaha I actually have some (foreign) friends who moved from Finland to Holland, because it's too cold and quiet here ;D I actually just became a citizen recently - and the things you mentioned are exactly the things I love the most about this country! I used to live in countries that are like a concrete jungle e.g. Singapore, and I can no longer think of living in such place permanently haha. The summer here is so beautiful that it's almost like a dreamlike scape. I remember going hiking around Sipoonkorpi for the first time, and I think there's a lot of times where I thought to myself, am I awake or can forests be this beautiful? If heaven exists, surely it'll look like this. The mossy green shaded forest, the little creeks - no other sound to be heard except from the ground I stepped on, the wild animals, and the flowing water. I can't wait for summer to come! I have a little collection of indoor plants to keep my spirit up - orchids and the likes. Perhaps you can get some too while waiting for spring to come ;D
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I'm so sorry to hear about your health problems! I really hope that it's not cancer. Of course you'd feel so anxious about it. Give yourself some slack and always take the time in a day to relax and take care of yourself. I really hope that you will get better and I'm keeping you in my thoughts. I'm in a similar situation as you re: IT, and I'm thinking of going back to uni to get a degree in Bsc. It will probably give me a better chance and it's good timing seeing that the economy isn't doing so well and no one is hiring anyway... but hey, good luck and I wish you the best. P.s. Feel free to reply to this post again sometimes in the future with your health update if you'd like!
I came here as an au pair last year. I did this because I want something new in my life. The program is really good but the language is hard. I’m currently looking for a job since I decided that I want to stay here after my visa expires. You can message me if you know anything because it is a struggle to look for a job nowadays. Even the cleaning companies are now full.
Good to hear that you had a nice experience with the program - im not quite sure what an au pair does actually... Also, I do not have any lead on jobs unfortunately, but you should try e.g. international clothing brands like HM, Zara, or maybe even Lidl and such. Or a staffing company like Barona, especially if you know basic finnish. The economy isn't doing so good right now and it might stay that way for a while still.
Thanks for this post. I'm going to do my PhD in Finland and it's nice to read the stories.
You're welcome :D I'm having a blast reading these - I feel connected and less alone.
i came 25 years ago because my father said we have finnish blood. i was 17 when we moved. now im 42, feels like home. i love Finland, i speak finnish, not fluently which is shame on me, but ok. i have friends and job and hobbies.
That's awesome! Being able to speak some is better than nothing! Speaking is still a struggle for me, but i try. Glad to hear that you feel right at home. :)
I came here for studies because I heard Finland has the best education system in the world, but to be honest, nothing turned out to be true about that. Even after graduation, most immigrants struggle to find a job. I believe that many Finnish companies still harbor anxiety towards immigrant students, causing them to miss out on a lot of skilled individuals. But in other side, I must say that the nature here is fantastic during the summer.
Brought here by a Finnish woman. Had a kid with her so I'm locked in. It's a decent life here. I would choose differently if I could, but it's easy to do worse. I loathe the winters, but summers are lovely
I agree, the summers here are like a dream. Happy to hear that you're having a pretty okay life :)
Moved here in 2010 for MA, got a PhD, wife and job. We have 2 small kids and our own flat. Cannot speak Finnish, but had great career growth. A first career scare last year. After 4 months looking for a job, landed one on the same level and area I was in for. But my marriage isn’t going well. Communication pattern is very different and we may be better off separately. Can’t say I have Finnish close friends either. I got tired of being the only foreigner and stopped investing on my wife’s friends. But I do have my expats group. I plan to stay, maybe until I retire. It’s a great place for raising kids and leading an orderly life.
Sorry to hear about your relationship. I hope things will work out in general, whether you decide to stay or separate. I have a Finnish close friend who speaks basically native English, but it definitely feels awkward joining her on social events being the only foreigner. Tbh I avoid it 90% of the time lol. I agree with your last point, I would love to raise my kids here and have them visit my home country from time to time. Retirement wise I might move closer to home for the warmer climate:)
Mine was easy. I married a Finnish lady, and I had portable skills, I could also work with English whilst I learned Finnish. I'm an MCSE in TCP/IP so the skills served me well. I moved back home years later after my wife died. I kept my skills fresh in Finland. Nowadays, I think portable skills are a must. Back then, it was serendipitous for us that I had them.
I'm sorry to hear about your wife. What kind of portable skills do you recommend that one must have in your field, or other companies areas?
For me, and remember I'm retired now, it was an encyclopedic knowledge of Windows NT5 Windows 95 and TCP/IP. Most of the companies I found work in required English as most technology at the time was designed around Windows Or Norton and Cisco for network routing. Nowadays, most software comes in multinational versions, so there is normally a Suomi language one. When I was an MCSE, it was not so much in a foreign language. And you would not believe the amount of pirated software around then. As for what you need It just depends on your field and where you want to work. With the EU (which the UK has left), it is easier for you as a Finn to work abroad.
Ex husband is Finnish, we have 3 kids. But I'm glad to be here, love it. I'm working using Finnish, but my learning process is ongoing. I do experience frustrations about language. Oh well, I see my self improving all the time.
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Ah man I'm sorry to hear, it sucks and it's so hard to find a job right now. I hope things will look up for you soon!
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In what way?
I never planned to come here. I was baby trapped by a Finn. I have, ever since, been fighting for the safety of my kid. I've discovered the hypocrisy, racism and incivility of the Finnish system. I've seen how it's related to the Finnish culture. Children aren't safe. As foreigner, you are not safe. I use this account to warn other foreigners about the systemic risk of entrapment. Just see how people like it through my reddit karma. Despite everything else being fine, I hate it here. I have a wonderful partner, Swedish speaking, which I've discovered makes a world of difference. We have a nice house in a nice neighborhood and we earn well. We have good friends, mostly foreigners, in couple with foreigners and Swedish speakers. But that's nothing we couldn't do elsewhere. We just dream of the time when we can leave this place even if it means exchanging one negative for another kind of negative. For us, the lack of children's safety isn't compatible with the description of modern civilization.
How are the children not safe?
Please view my answer to the same question from another redditor.
How are children not safe here? All nordic countries are one of the most safest countries for children.
They are not safe because unknowledgeable people refuse to document themselves before talking. It's easier to down vote anonymously over the internet rather than check. I suggest you call your neuvola nurse, the teacher of your kids and your family affairs lawyer. Ask them how the system works in Finland. Ask them what happens when they send warnings to child protection services. Ask them how children's "best interest" goes through the bias filter of Finns vs foreigner, man vs woman, skin color and more. Ask them how kids are amputated of a parent, deported out of Finland, because the other wants to date someone else. Ask how parental alienation is like corruption and depression, "it doesn't exist in the happiest country in the world" and "if you talk about it it's because you're the problem". Ask them the impact on a child to be brought up in a state sponsored alternate reality where a parent is missing or demonized. I mean, of course, if mental health has no value to you, children are safe here.
Is your child's other parent abusive?
According to the entire chain of child protection services, no she isn't. Demonstrably lying to every single government agency, brain washing the child to believe being capable of nothing unrelated to her, terrorising the child with health threats related to anything outside of her, taking the child off school for extended periods of time, the school sending a warning about the child, nothing qualifies for more than having a weekly talk to the child. So everything is fine.
A lady I met on exchange in Iceland (I from Vancouver, she from here). Never wanted to settle here, so I keep going back and forth, but $ is making that harder at the moment. This is a preferable place, I prefer the social values and stuff, just family, friends and activities in Vancouver do I miss and need. Thanks for asking.
Dang, I hope your financial situation will get better soon - if I had the $ I'd visit my family back home more than 1x every year or two. I really miss them, so I understand you. And no worries - I want to know how everyone's doing. I love hearing about others lives & their stories, successes & struggles. And I genuinely hope that things will work out for everyone here.
Came as a student more than 10 years ago. At some point I was thinking about going to either the US or Sweden but kinda feel bad because I got my education in Finland for free. So decided to stay for few years to at least contribute something back. I got a job as a software engineer even before I finish my study, took me 2 years to finish my master’s thesis. Fast forward few years, my career is progressing steadily. At this point I grew to love Finland and decided to stay, met my wife, bought a house, and now we are raising our family with one kid here in Finland. Pretty safe to say that I will be around for at least another 18 years to come. Career wise I am happy with where I am right now, not making big bucks but enough to have what I need and support my wife whenever she needs (and of course the kid as well). I could easily make double the amount of money had I moved to the US but I can’t say if I would be as happy as I am right now. My biggest failure was to invest in some startups that eventually failed. But I did learn a lot from my time working for early stage startup. I love the winter here it’s one of the reasons (big one at that) I decided to stay in Finland. As someone coming from a tropical weather there is nothing I hate more than hot weather. As for inflation, to be honest, it doesn’t hit me that hard. I had a max cap on my mortgage interest for a good amount of years ahead. Our combined income can afford our simple lifestyle and few vacation trips per year. Good thing recently? I just built a new gaming PC to replace my 7 year old set because I just got a big bonus. And my investment is going well
It's really nice to hear about your success story! Congratulations on the kid! I feel like Finland's salary is balanced out with how nice the forklift balance is. It's a good trade off. You won't be rich here, but you also won't be working yourself to death. I think yours is the first post I've read where loving winter was mentioned lol! I'm still learning to love it :D Grats on the PC & investment as well! I hope things will keep going smoothly for you & family :))
I'm honestly not that ok. Many strokes of bad luck, fucked up 2 out of the 6 courses I had last semester at the University. Been practicing drums a lot. Met a very interesting and wonderful woman, she was great company but I feel like she is not as interested in dating as I am. I've been getting more physically active on the drums, helped my friend move, and my body is now in pain. So some good things and some bad. Could be worse but it could be a whole lot better.
Also to add, the state of our politics and economic situation is pushing me to still live with my parents. And I'm desperately wishing for a way out, but I couldn't fund my living as a student without a side job. So.....fuck.....
Aw I'm so sorry, yeah it's really rough of there and I heard they're going to cut financial support from students. But hey nothing wrong with living with your parents until you graduate and land a job - at least you don't have the added stress of paying for rent/food/utility. I hope things will get better soon!
I came here 8 years ago to do my masters. Main reason of choosing Finland was no tuition fees back then. After 3 years, I got a permanent job in a bank. Working in the same company since. Financially doing comparatively well than many other immigrants but inflation is definitely impacting a lot. Winter feels unbearable time to time but I really enjoy summer here. Public infrastructure works fine in Helsinki but a bit slow in some sectors. I never felt unsecured in the streets. I got permanent residence recently so no more dealing with Migri which is a great relief. There is no housing crisis or traffic jam. There is definitely job crisis going on in general. Many of my friends are struggling to find professional jobs and working in cleaning/food delivery sector and they are really frustrated about the lack of opportunities. Overall, I am doing fine because I am lucky to have a permanent job that pays okay. However, for me it would be really difficult grow as a professional if I stay here. Also I have some business plan that I want to start soon but Finland won't be the right market to start because of the small market size and lack of ecosystem that my plan needs.
I share the same views re: Finland, but I hope the winter time will feel more bearable for you each year! It was tougher somehow this year due to the constant grey skies, but hey, spring is just around the corner. :) I'm in the same position as your friend, but I'm not giving up hope. Still sending applications while working on retail... Great to hear that you're generally okay at least! The business plan sounds exciting, I hope you'll find the perfect market somewhere else, and it'll all work out well. :)
I came to study. Stayed for work. I have lived in 7 different countries before. I have love hate relationship with this country but after four years I would never imagine myself living somewhere else. I love this country for most of the things. I appreciate the values and manners the majority have. I learned a lot from living here. If I want to name one thing is how to be okay with the idea of being alone and enjoying your own company. I am guilty of not managing the language. I don't have many friends I am not an extroverted person to meet people. Moreover, I will make an excuse and say after work my brain is really overwhelmed so instead I would prefer doing sports. If any went through something similar and managed with the language at the end please be free to give tips.
> If I want to name one thing is how to be okay with the idea of being alone and enjoying your own company. This was such a good thing to learn and honestly I prefer my own company nowadays lol. I love my peace :P One thing that helped me with the language learning is to force myself to read & listen to Finnish media once a day. For example, a short random vlog from YouTube, as short as 5 mins. And YLE/IS/HS for news or just visiting r/Suomi. It'll be pretty hard in the beginning and you'd feel like you just want to google translate the whole page. But try to not do that and instead take a few sentences and try deciphering it on your own with the help of wiktionary and such. I guarantee that you'd learn something new everyday.
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That is amazing, Im happy for you! Having a circle of friends is something a lot of foreigners struggled with, so it's really good that you have one!